Wood Mine Be Magic
Breeding Season 2022 is something that wasn’t ever going to be anything big…In fact it was only going to be the breeding of 2 mares. Neither mares were money earners, but the 2 stallions I picked were pretty spectacular and would swallow up any extra money that I had set aside for breeding for the year.
And then it happened…
In my eyes you had to have been hiding under a rock if you didn’t see the famous Western Bloodstock Sale of “Wood She Be Magic”. A horse that was a cross of Woody Be Tuff and a Metallic Cat x Sweet Abra daughter, that sold for over $1 million dollars. Well $1,050,000 to be exact. The rider of the horse, and I’m sure the owner of the horse cried. To be honest heck I cried, and I still get a little teary eyed every time I watch that sale. Genuinely, I hope every person that I send the video does as well. It shakes me to the core. I don’t know if it’s because I love horses that much, if I was so authentically happy for the seller. When you watch the video, you can absolutely feel the emotion of all of the years of guessing, doubting, training, stressing and so much more. Now I have nowhere near the number of years breeding or doing anything the Ashlock family has done, but that video moves me. It always has, always will.
So, when I had a daughter of Metallic Cat of my own, I did the same as everyone who has a daughter of Metallic Cat has…I thought “what if”. I went to the website of Woody Be Tuff, owned by Mel Smith. It said that his semen was booked for the season. I wasn’t going to accept that, even when everyone told me it was hopeless and to quickly pick another. People who know me well would say, “I did the “Natalie” thing”, and called Mel directly. And to my surprise she answered the phone herself. To me Mel had to be something of a celebrity, as who has a horse that is worth over $1 million. She answered the phone with a friendly, “Hi, this is Mel” as though I was someone who was an old friend. And I said something of, “Hi my name is Natalie Larson, I live in ND, and I have a Metallic Cat daughter I’d like to breed to Woody Be Tuff.” I explained that I know the website says you don’t have any contracts, “but can I be on a list?” She then said they are working on drawing up the paperwork for the contracts and that she’d be in contact when they were available. She was absolutely wonderful to work with from the beginning. When I hung up the phone, I was a little in shock. In the back of my mind, I worried it wouldn’t happen, that the paperwork would get lost even though she had given my info to the Lazy E to be on the list. No one believed me. They sent me pics that breeding/semen wasn’t available. Then on January 11, 2022 I got the email from the Lazy E and I paid the $5,000 stud fee, I was so excited. I thought I was somewhat crazy, but I knew at the same time It would be something that for me would be life changing. Good or bad I was going to have one of those babies. I know my mare has never won a single dollar in competition, but I didn’t care. And I still don’t. RT Patty Cats “LuLu’s” baby will be something of Royalty to me. Whether she ends up a NRCHA champion, or a champion on the trail.
For those that have not seen the video, please watch it, you will never forget it.
